Initial results are that Republicans landed a dominating victory on November 2 in the state legislatures. As of late evening on November 3, at least 19 state legislative chambers switched from Democratic to Republican. There are still two that are too close to call:

Partisan breakdown

Before the election

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that hold elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, currently have a Democratic majority, while 33 of them have a Republican majority. (Two chambers have an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially non-partisan.)

Below are maps detailing the look of state legislative chambers both before and after the election.

Partisan breakdown

Before the election

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that hold elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, currently have a Democratic majority, while 33 of them have a Republican majority. (Two chambers have an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially non-partisan.)

After the election

Not including the 2 chambers still up for grabs, Republicans have picked up 19 legislative chambers while Democrats have lost 21. Republicans won 52 chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 31.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Across the nation, only 15 Republican incumbents were defeated while 492 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In total, 507 (10.4%) of the 4,872 incumbents running in the general election were defeated. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2010 general election:

The following is the breakdown of incumbents who lost.

Incumbents defeated in 2010 legislative elections

Party

Senate

House

Total

Democratic

89

403

492

Republican

5

10

15

TOTALS

94

413

507

Total new legislators elected

In total, 1,733 (28.3%) new legislators were elected in 2010. Of these 1,733, 1,266 (73.1%) are Republicans and 467 (26.9%) are Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2010 legislative elections

Party

Senate

House

Total

Democratic

110

357

467

Republican

278

988

1,266

TOTALS

388

1,345

1,733

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 1,178 (19.2%) of the 6,125 seats on November 2. Of these 1,178 open seats, Republicans won 729 (61.9%) while Democrats won 449 (38.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2010 legislative elections

Party

Senate

House

Total

Democratic

108

341

449

Republican

191

538

729

TOTALS

299

879

1,178

Impact on legislative majorities

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that held elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, had a Democratic majority, while only 33 of them had a Republican majority. (Two chambers had an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially nonpartisan.) The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures prior to the November 2 election:

As a result of the election, Republicans picked up 20 legislative chambers while Democrats lost 20. Republicans won 53 total chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 32. The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures after the November 2 election:

Another way to examine the data is to gauge how many chambers had gains for the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Using this variable, the wide-sweeping Republican victory is further amplified. Democrats bolstered their majorities in only 7 of 88 (7.96%) state chambers. These legislatures are as follows:

In 7 chambers, the GOP kept their current number of seats. In one chamber, the California State Assembly, both major parties gained seats by filling 2 vacancies and defeating an incumbent independent. Overall, the Republican Party picked up legislative seats in 75 (85.2%) of the 88 legislative chambers that held elections on November 2.

Impact on State Politics

Along with the GOP capture of the U.S. House of Representatives, state Republicans gained trifectas (control of the governorship, house, and senate) in 12 states. The following is a breakdown of trifectas across the nation, before and after the 2010 election:

Trifectas before and after the 2010 Election

Party

Before election

U.S. House seats

After election

U.S. House seats

Gain/loss states

Gain/loss congressional seats

Democratic

16

131

11

115

-5

-16

Republican

8

66

20

198

+12

+132

Before the election, 131 U.S House seats were in states with Democratic trifectas, while 66 districts were in states with Republican trifectas. After the election, Republicans trifectas control redistricting for 198 U.S. House seats while Democrats control only 115. Additionally, California, the strongest Democratic trifecta with 53 U.S. House representatives, passed propositions that take redistricting power away from state government.

For more detailed analysis of the results, such as incumbents who were defeated, see the page below.